


Another Life

by Bookworm1063



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:46:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21959833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookworm1063/pseuds/Bookworm1063
Summary: The fairy sighed. “You can call me Mal, if you need something to call me.”“Mal.” Evie leaned against the wall next to her. “I haven’t seen you in the city before.”“I’m not exactly a local,” Mal said, smirking, as she gestured to her ears and hair.Evie and Mal are princesses on opposite sides of a war when they meet at a Solstice festival.
Relationships: Evie & Carlos de Vil, Evie/Mal (Disney)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 81





	Another Life

**Author's Note:**

> A Secret Santa gift for truth-from-lies-in-fiction on Tumblr. Happy Holidays!

Evie hadn’t been invited to the war council, but she lingered outside the massive wooden doors anyway, waiting for her older sister. Across the hallway, Carlos sat with his back to the wall, fiddling with a small black box and a tangle of wires.

“I can’t hear anything,” she said. “The Fey could be right outside our gates and I wouldn’t know.”

“Yes, you would,” Carlos said. “The Fey aren’t exactly subtle.”

The doors to the war room swung open, knocking Evie back into the wall. She pushed herself up, rubbing her elbow resentfully.

“So sorry, Your Highness,” the page said. “I didn’t mean- I didn’t see you there, Princess.”

“It’s alright,” Evie said, forcing a smile. “Are they finished, then?”

“I believe so, Your Highness.”

Evie swung around him and entered the war room. Behind her, Carlos stood up with a sigh and followed, though he lingered in the doorway.

The Queen’s council was just rising from the large circular table that dominated the center of the room. In front of the largest chair, Queen Grimhilde stood with her palms flat on the table, fingers digging into the wood. To her right, Snow looked only marginally more composed, her hand pressed to her side and her face pale.

“I guess that went well,” Evie called across the room, ignoring the councilors and generals gathering their maps and notes.

“It went fine,” Grimhilde said. “How many times have I asked you not to interrupt war meetings?”

Evie shrugged. “You were already done.”

One of the generals stopped to speak with the Queen, murmuring about reinforcements from Northern Wei and Agrabah. Carlos’ entire face lit up, and Evie smirked.

“You know, they probably don’t send diplomat’s sons with the armies.”

“They might,” he argued.

Evie laughed. The door slammed open behind her.

“Your Majesty!” The messenger stumbled and caught themself on the doorframe. “Captain… Forrest… said to tell you…”

“Someone get a pitcher of water,” the Queen snapped. Snow helped the messenger to her own chair. Evie and Carlos exchanged glances and moved closer to eavesdrop.

“Fey… attacks,” the messenger said. “One… near the camp… one… near the eastern border…”

“Of the kingdom?” Grimhilde demanded.

“Of the city… Your Majesty.”

The messenger slumped from the chair in a dead faint. Evie pushed forward and grabbed her mother’s sleeve.

“Let me take a regiment,” she said. “Please.”

“Absolutely not.” Grimhilde didn’t even look at her.

“Mom!”

“Grimhilde,” Snow said. “Someone has to.”

“Send one of the generals, then.” Grimhilde tugged herself free of Evie. “Call the councilors back in here. Get me-”

“I’m going,” Evie interrupted.

Grimhilde arched one immaculately maintained eyebrow. Evie heard Carlos clear his throat behind her- a clear warning.

“There’s no reason for you to go out there.”

Evie opened her mouth to protest, but her half-sister raised one finger in the air.

“I think she can do it, Grimhilde. Someone has too.”

Evie’s mother studied her for a moment, face pinched tightly into an array of vertical lines. She could tell that her mother was still tempted to say no and have a different messenger fetch one of the generals.

“You can go,” Grimhilde said at last. “But stay away from the battle, do you understand?”

Evie knew it was the best offer she was likely to get, so she kept her mouth shut.

Evie left Carlos at the Command tent and did exactly what her mother had told her not to do.

She had her own armor, and she’d worn it to the outskirts of the city, where an ancient stone wall ran through the valleys and forests that made up eastern Enchantia. By the time she arrived, the battle had already begun.

“This is a stupid idea,” Carlos had said. Evie had just shrugged.

Now, Evie wove her way through the battle. When she’d imagined this in the past, she’d always thought of neat lines and one-on-one duels happening up and down a sandy beach somewhere. Reality was nothing like that. It was a mess.

Evie swung her sword into the upper arm of the nearest fairy and darted around a wood spirit swinging a club. The spirit sent a bolt of green energy at her; she ducked and lost sight of it. On of her mother’s soldiers recognized her; their eyes went wide behind their helmet, but Evie skipped neatly around them, trying not to slip on the blood-soaked ground, and flicked a smaller dagger from her wrist. She sliced the smaller blade across the back of a pixie’s knees, and as the fairy dropped to the ground, she saw them.

Only a few feet away, the Fairy Queen rode on the back of a shadow horse, wielding a staff topped with a glowing green orb. Massive horns and feathery wings sprouted from her head and back. To her right, her king-consort summoned blue flame around his hands. To her left, a knight in elaborate silver armor stalked through the battle, forgoing a horse, slicing down every human who crossed her path.

Evie lifted her sword.

Her eyes met those of the knight.

They charged.

Evie’s sword met the knight’s with a _clang_ , and she pushed back with all her strength. As the knight stumbled back, Evie noticed the elaborate curving symbol etched into her chestplate. This girl was a member of the royal family. The princess, maybe.

Evie struck again, swinging her sword at the princess’ arm, but she blocked and danced away again. The princess’ sword was lighter than Evie’s, and she twirled it over in her fingers, the other hand summoning a ball of green fire. It expanded in front of her like a shield.

Evie swung her sword at the princess’ head, then shifted at the last minute, sweeping her feet out from under her. The princess hit the ground, hard. The shield of fire went dark. Evie pressed the edge of her sword to the princess’ neck.

The helmet’s visor covered the princess’ face, but Evie swore she could _feel_ her smile. The princess reached up and touched the blade.

The metal disintegrated in Evie’s hands. She stumbled back, shocked, as the princess lept to her feet. Fire swirled around her arms as she lunged for Evie.

One of Evie’s mother’s knights lept in between them. Evie snatched a sword from a dead soldier lying on the ground; it was a fairy blade, lighter than she was used to, and it seemed to hum in her hand. The fairy princess shoved her sword into the knight’s thigh, and Evie leapt over the falling body. She slammed into the princess and drove the fey blade into her shoulder.

The princess screamed. Drops of bright blue blood landed on Evie’s exposed wrist, stinging like acid. Evie yanked the blade back out, letting the blood flow freely, and a wave of magic knocked her backwards. Evie flew through the air and landed on her back, the wind knocked out of her. 

When she picked herself up again, the princess was kneeling in the dirt, gasping for breath. Her hand was pressed against her wounded shoulder, and veins of magic glowed under her armor, trying to knit the flesh back together.

Evie stepped forward. The princess looked up.

“Nice… one,” she said. “I’m… impressed.” 

Evie felt her blood run cold. She knew that voice.

She reached for the helmet, and the princess didn’t try to stop her.

Purple hair, streaked through with blue highlights. Witchy green eyes. Delicately arched, pointed ears. Pale skin, with a hectic red flush to her cheeks from the battle.

Evie couldn’t help it. She moaned in disbelief.

“Hi, Evie,” Mal said.

**Six Weeks Ago**

Evie lingered in the town square, waiting for the vendors to finish setting up their stalls. She’d been craving Fairy Godmother’s Solstice churros all year.

Brightly colored banners hung from the railings and rooftops around the square. The festival wasn’t starting for another hour, but people were already filling the surrounding streets. Somewhere, someone was tuning a violin. Evie tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and listened.

“Evie,” Carlos said, elbowing her in the side. Evie squinted at her best friend, bouncing on the balls of his feet, eyeing Fairy Godmother’s little wooden stand. “That’s the first batch.”

Evie hopped off the wall just as the first citizens reached the square. “Run.”

Carlos took off, weaving through the crowds, and Evie followed. Unlike Carlos, she didn’t have to dodge elbows and shoulders. The moment people saw her, they moved out of the way, but it didn’t matter. By the time she reached the churro stand, Carlos was already there, deep in conversation with Fairy Godmother’s daughter, Jane.

“Your highness,” Jane said, dropping into a curtsy at the sight of Evie.

“Oh, that’s okay,” Evie said kindly. “We’re just here for the churros.”

“And to say hi, of course,” Carlos added, which made Jane blush. She moved away to wrap up the first batch of churros, and Evie shoved Carlos’ shoulder.

“Stop leading her on.”

“What?” Carlos looked so genuinely confused that Evie let it go.

“Here, your highness. My lord.” Jane curtsied again as she handed Carlos the churros.

“That’s really not necessary.” Even Carlos looked awkward now.

“Thank you, Jane.” Evie made to steer Carlos away, but ran directly into someone standing behind her. She yelped as she lost her balance and started to fall. Carlos snatched for her hand, but missed.

A pair of strong arms caught Evie by the arm moments before she hit the ground and hauled her upright. Whoever she’d run into set her back on her feet, not seeming to care if they ruined her dress or hair.

“I’m so sorry!” Evie cried.

“Whatever.” Evie looked up, and gasped.

The girl in front of her was clearly fey. She had long, arched ears and purple-and-blue hair, with eyes an unnatural shade of green. She was shorter than Evie, and she held herself like she could take off flying at any moment.

Evie was used to fairies. Plenty of them lived in her kingdom, Etterra. But most of them were well known, like Fairy Godmother, or tried to hide their more _magical_ characteristics. This girl wasn’t hiding anything. Evie had never seen a fairy like her.

“What?” The fairy arched her eyebrows. “Nothing to see here.” She disappeared into the crowds. Evie gaped after her until Carlos stuffed half a churro in her mouth.

Evie gagged and swallowed. “Seriously? I didn’t even get to enjoy that.”

“Come on.” Carlos took her hand and pulled her away from Fairy Godmother’s stand. “Close your mouth, you look ridiculous.”

Evie snapped her mouth shut.

“What was that?” Carlos asked. “I haven’t seen you look at a girl like that since that ambassador from Atlantica- Uma, I think.”

“Carlos,” Evie said. “Please shut up.”

Three hours later, Evie and Carlos were perched on the stone wall bordering the Terra river, skipping stones and watching the cattle and sheep graze on the opposite bank.

Evie glanced back over Carlos’ shoulder and sucked in a breath. “It’s her.”

Carlos looked, but the fairy girl was already gone.

“I don’t see anything,” he said. “Listen, E, I’m pretty tired. Do you mind if I head home?”

“No, you go ahead,” Evie said, distracted. Carlos gave her a quick hug and hopped off the wall, disappearing into the gap between two houses. Evie jogged after the fairy.

She found her leaning against the side of a general store, eating a churro and listening to the sounds of the Solstice festival in the square. Now that she had the chance to really look, Evie realized that the fairy was younger than she had assumed. She looked almost Evie’s age.

“Hi,” Evie called. The fairy didn’t so much as flinch, just took another bite of her apple.

“I feel bad,” Evie continued. “I’ve just been calling you _the fairy_ in my head all day.”

The girl finally looked at Evie. They were definitely the same age.

“I’m-” Evie began, but the girl held up one finger.

“I don’t want your real name.”

“-Evie,” Evie said firmly. It was a nickname anyway.

The fairy sighed. “You can call me Mal, if you need something to call me.”

“Mal.” Evie leaned against the wall next to her. “I haven’t seen you in the city before.”

“I’m not exactly a local,” Mal said, smirking, as she gestured to her ears and hair.

“No,” Evie agreed. “Have you visited Etterra before?”

“I haven’t.”

Evie swallowed audibly. “Did you need someone to show you around? I know the city fairly well.” 

Mal arched one eyebrow. “You do know there’s a war on, don’t you?”

Evie tipped her head to the side.

“Between fairies and humans,” Mal said slowly, like she thought Evie was stupid. “You’re human. I’m fey. You shouldn’t want to spend any more time with me than you have to.”

Evie smiled. “I’ve been told I don’t have the best survival instincts.” Once, by Carlos, but still.

Mal shrugged. “Sure, why not. I’m bored.”

Evie led the way out of the alley, grinning from ear to ear.

The square was packed with people, and the dancing had already begun. Fiddlers perched on the rim of the fountain, and partners twirled around in a circle while people on the outside clapped their hands to the rhythm.

Evie wanted to dance, but she didn’t think they’d gotten to that point yet, so she wove through the crowd in search of iced tea.

She and Mal sat on one of the square’s benches, watching the dancers. Mal took a tentative sip of her drink.

“This is good,” she said. “Weird, but good.”

“Um. Thanks, I think.” Evie gazed out at the dancers in the square. She didn’t know where Mal was looking until she said, “We have better dances than you humans.”

“Yeah?” Evie peeked out of the corner of her eye and saw Mal doing the same.

“Yeah. I’ll show you.” Mal took Evie’s hand and pulled her into the crowd. 

“I had fun,” Evie admitted, hours later, when the fiddlers were packing up and the festival was starting to clear out.

“Me too,” Mal said. “Can I see you again?”

Evie froze. She couldn’t tell if Mal was asking in a friendly way or not, and she wasn’t sure which she’d prefer.

Mal was obviously beautiful, but they’d only just met.

“Yes,” Evie said cautiously. Mal smiled.

“I’m glad.” She leaned in and kissed Evie on the cheek, just once. Then she faded away into the shadows.

Evie touched her cheek and grinned like an idiot the whole way home.

“What’s got you so happy?” Carlos asked. He was sitting at the bottom of the stairs in the entrance hall with a book. Evie peeked at the cover; it was written in a language she couldn’t read and it had nothing to do with alchemy.

“I saw that fairy girl, remember?”

“She was actually there?” Carlos closed his book and set it aside. “Did you talk to her?”

Evie nodded. “She asked to see me again.”

“That’s great, E. Does she know who you are?”

Evie winced. Carlos patted her shoulder sympathetically.

“What are you even doing here?”

“The messengers from Agrabah should be here soon.”

Evie giggled. “Oh. I see.”

“Shut _up_ -”

“Lord Carlos? A letter from Agrabah.”

Carlos stood up so fast, he knocked his book into Evie’s lap. Evie smiled as she retreated up the stairs.

A week later, Evie honestly wasn’t expecting to see Mal again. But there she was, leaning against the stall in the marketplace that sold fabric and thread- the exact place Evie had been going to shop.

“Mal,” Evie said. “I won’t lie, this is creepy.”

Mal smiled. “I’m glad you think so.”

Evie handed the shopkeeper some money and loaded her order of fabric into her bag. “Is there something I can do for you?”

“Yes,” Mal said. “You can come with me. On a date.”

“We danced together for a few hours last week, and you’re asking me on a date?”

“Yes.” Mal took Evie’s hand.

Evie had had something else to say, but she was distracted by the feeling of Mal’s hand in hers. Mal pulled her away down the street, and Evie followed.

Mal took them just past the edge of the city, across a small bridge over the river and into the fields full of fruit that supplied the kingdom’s markets. She climbed into a massive oak tree on the edge of someone’s property, and Evie stood at the base, looking up.

“I have no idea how to climb a tree.”

Mal moved her hands in a set of complicated circles. The breeze swirled around Evie’s feet, and she was lifted up onto the branch beside Mal.

“Wow,” Evie breathed. “That’s… I’ve never seen something like that before.”

“No magic in your family?” Mal leaned back against the trunk of the tree.

Evie shrugged. “We’re good with alchemy.”

“Cool.” Mal snapped her fingers, and green fire swirled at her fingertips. Evie gasped.

“You’ll burn the tree down!”

“I won’t.” Mal closed her fist, and the fire went out. Then she turned to face Evie. “Tell me about yourself.”

So Evie did. She told Mal about her mother and half-sister, but without names. She told Mal about Carlos and his boyfriend in Agrabah, but without mentioning that Carlos was the son of a lord and the cousin of a knight, dating the son of Agrabah’s ambassador to Etterra. She told Mal about her childhood, without revealing that she was the princess.

Mal told Evie about growing up in a Fey settlement just outside of Etterra, and about her parents, and how they had met. She told Evie about her own friends, and the art she did in her spare time. By then, the sun was sinking below the horizon, and Mal leaned over and kissed Evie.

It was so fast, Evie almost thought she’d imagined it. By the time she realized what was happening, or thought that maybe she should kiss Mal back, Mal was already pulling away.

“Sorry,” Mal said, and Evie kissed her. She almost fell out of the tree, but Mal caught her, and they sat there and kissed some more.

“Where have you been?”

Evie looked up from her desk and caught sight of her mother standing in the doorway, reflected in the mirror over Evie’s vanity. “You missed dinner. The Minister of Treasury and his son were there. I _told_ you not to be late.”

“And I wasn’t.” Evie went back to her sewing machine.

“No- you missed it all together!”

Evie ignored her mother and loaded a fresh spool of gold thread into the machine.

“Look at me when I’m speaking to you.”

Evie twisted around on her stool. “I’m sorry, Mother. It won’t happen again.”

“See that it doesn’t.” Grimhilde backed out of the room and closed the door behind her.

Evie looked in the mirror, and realized that she was smiling again.

Evie was never sure of when she would see Mal again.

Sometimes Mal would appear in the marketplace or the square two or three days in a row. Sometimes she would go a week without showing up. Evie didn’t mind, and she wasn’t sure of what to call this thing they were doing.

Carlos thought she was being a idiot. “You don’t even know her,” he said.

“I want to, though. That’s the point,” Evie replied.

Carlos shook his head, but he didn’t bother trying to talk Evie out of it.

“Do you do this all the time?” Evie asked. She and Mal were laying side by side on a rooftop overlooking the city, touching from their shoulders to their feet. “I mean, enchant every human girl who runs into you in the square?”

“I usually don’t meet humans who want to talk to me,” Mal said. “Given the war.”

“Right,” Evie said. “The war.”

Mal shrugged. “It’s been going on for so long. Do you think it’ll actually ever end?”

Evie didn’t think so, but she also didn’t want to say it out loud. “Maybe.”

“That’s a no.” Mal sighed. “I don’t think so either.”

The next day, Grimhilde’s captains received word of a fairy raid on human villages, about half a day from the city.

“Be safe,” Evie told her sister. Snow stopped halfway through the process of buckling a saddle onto her horse and hugged Evie.

“I’ll be back in four days. Five, tops. Take care of the kingdom while I’m gone.” Snow told Evie that every time she left.

“Yeah.” Snow climbed onto her horse, squeezed Evie’s hand, and rode off with her troops. Evie stood in the courtyard long after she’d gone.

Carlos wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “She’ll be okay.” 

“I know,” Evie said with a smile.

“What happened?” Mal asked.

Evie didn’t know how to answer that question without giving herself away, so she said, “My sister had to leave home.” 

“Why?” Something had changed in Mal’s voice, and Evie glanced over at her. Her face had gone pale.

“Um. College?” It wasn’t a very convincing lie, and Evie knew it. “I just… miss her, is all.”

Mal’s face smoothed over immediately. “Oh. That’s good for her.”

“Yes.” Evie took another bite of her sandwich.

Mal leaned across the table and took Evie’s hand. “She’ll be back, I’m sure.”

Evie smiled. “Right.” Then she leaned in to kiss Mal, effectively stopping all further conversation. 

“Princess Evie!”

Evie looked up from the book she’d been reading. “Is everything alright?”

“It’s your sister, my lady. She’s just returned from the battlefield.”

“Is she okay?”

The look on the messenger’s face told Evie everything she needed to know.

Evie threw open the doors to her sister’s room. Snow was laying on the bed, her side exposed. The royal physician knelt next to her, halfway through sewing the torn skin together. From the looks of it, someone had tried to stab her, and narrowly missed.

“Is she okay?” Evie demanded. Snow tried to twist toward her and groaned, collapsing back onto the bed. The physician hissed and resumed stitching. Grimhilde had been sitting on a chair in the opposite corner, but she stood up when Evie entered.

“Out!” Grimhilde seized Evie by the arm and dragged her out into the hallway. The doors closed.

“What happened?” Evie demanded, yanking her arm free of her mother’s grip.

“She was stabbed,” Grimhilde said. “By the fairy princess, if the knight’s reports are correct. She’ll live.”

Evie buried her face in her hands and slumped back against the wall, and for once, her mother didn’t tell her to stand up straight.

“I didn’t even know fairies had royalty,” Evie muttered.

“They don’t.” Grimhilde sounded tired, and Evie was certain this was the first time she’d ever seen that kind of weakness in her mother. “This particular group do.”

Evie lifted her head. “What happens now?”

A flicker of _something_ passed over Grimhilde’s face. “We destroy them.”

“You’re not with your family?” Carlos asked. Evie sat down at the table in his rooms, shoving a stack of journals away from her.

“Mother hasn’t let me in to see Snow,” she said. “They let her out of bed this morning, but only to go to a war council.” 

“They’re set on this, then,” Carlos muttered. “They’re going to wipe out these particular fairies because of what happened to your sister.”

“Actually, I think my mother is planning on wiping out all fairies,” Evie said. “Did you hear? Fairy Godmother and Jane have left the kingdom. They’re moving to Auradon.”

“This is…” Carlos shook his head. “Your mother is overreacting. It was a battle. It’s not like there was an assassination attempt.”

“My mother cares about the kingdom,” Evie said. “She’s been looking for an excuse like this for years. Nothing we say will stop her.”

“Nothing we say,” Carlos repeated. “What about Snow?” 

Evie shrugged. “If Mother won’t listen to me, I doubt she’ll listen to Snow.”

“We can try, though,” Carlos urged. “We can’t just let your mother slaughter innocent fairies.”

Evie wanted to say no, but she couldn’t bring herself to disappoint Carlos like that. Besides, he was right. “Okay,” she said. “We can talk to my sister.”

“We’ll wait outside the Council Room,” Carlos said. “Come on.”

**Today**

“Hi, Evie,” Mal said.

Behind Evie, the knights were rallying. Fey were fleeing the battlefield or falling to swords and bows. Evie pointed her sword at Mal’s throat and held it there.

“It was you,” she whispered. “You stabbed my sister. She could have died!”

Mal nodded. “This is war.”

“Princess Evie!” Captain Forrest ran up to them, panting. Her long blonde hair was stuck to her scalp with sweat and blood, but she was grinning. “You got the princess!”

“Yes,” Evie said, glaring down the length of her sword’s blade. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

“We should ransom her,” one of the councilmembers suggested. “Force the Fey tribe to sign a peace treaty.”

“A useless peace treaty,” Snow pointed out. “It stops one tribe from causing problems, _if_ they honor it.”

“So we kill her,” someone else suggested. “Make an example.”

Evie winced.

Snow glanced down the table at her and Carlos, then turned her glare on the speaker. “That’s barbaric.”

“Not illegal, though,” the Minister of War said. “She’s a prisoner of war. Under the constitution, we are not obligated to give her a trial. And this _is_ a war. Sometimes, we have to do things we wouldn’t consider ordinarily.”

“And you are a monster,” Snow snapped, but Grimhilde interrupted.

“I agree with both of you. It’s not the most humane course of action, but it is the only one that would have any impact on more than a few dozen fairies.”

Snow shook her head. “I won’t support this.”

“She will be given a trial,” Grimhilde said. “And if found guilty, she will be executed.”

Evie paced back and forth across her bedroom, twisting strands of her hair between her fingers.

Someone knocked on the door, and Evie immediately dropped onto her bed. Carlos and Snow crept into the room.

“So,” Snow said. “The fairy princess, huh?”

Evie glared at Carlos, who at least had the decency to look slightly ashamed. “I told her. Sorry.”

“Whatever.” Evie threw herself back onto the pillows. “It doesn’t matter.”

Snow and Carlos climbed up on either side of Evie, and she curled into her sister’s side and took Carlos’ hand. “I’m being an idiot.”

“Probably,” Snow agreed. “But you’re going to help her anyway, aren’t you.”

Evie shook her head, than nodded.

Evie pushed open the door at the top of the dungeon steps. The staircase was well lit by torches and lined on all sides by guards. They bowed as she passed.

“Princess Evie.”

Evie turned to face her mother’s captain of the guard. “Captain.”

“What brings you down here? I’m under strict orders not to let anyone near the prisoner.”

“Of course,” Evie said. “I was just wondering if I could ask her a few questions.”

“Not without a direct order from the queen, I’m afraid.”

Evie sank into a curtsy. “Thank you for your time.” She retreated back down the passage, looped around to the corridor leading to the kitchen, and disappeared behind a tapestry.

The secret passage let out in the deepest part of the dungeon, inside a cell with no lock on its door. Evie slid it open, cringing at the squeak of hinges, and set off down the hallway.

Mal’s cell was at the very end, past a set of iron pillars enchanted to block all magic. Evie traced her fingers over the intricate carvings as she passed, and knelt down in front of the fairy princess.

“If it makes you feel any better,” Mal said, “I didn’t know who you were. Not at first.”

Evie wanted to say that she didn’t care, but she couldn’t, so she set to work on the lock instead.

Mal watched, frowning, as Evie fished a couple of hairpins from her hair and picked the lock. It fell open with a soft clang. Evie stepped into the cell and started in on the chains looped around Mal’s wrists and ankles.

“Thanks.” Mal stretched and pushed herself to her feet. “What are you doing?”

“Saving your life,” Evie said. “Let’s go.”

Evie led the way back up through the secret passage and into the main part of the castle.

The kitchen was full of cooks and maids, and at the sight of Mal, they started screaming. Some fled, while others brandished knives or frying pans.

Mal raised her hands and began to chant. The staff collapsed. One of them fell onto their knife; Evie winced, but there was clearly no helping the young maid.

Mal sank to her knees, gasping for breath. “I’ve never tried to… sleep that many before.”

“It’s okay,” Evie said. She dragged Mal’s arm over her shoulders and started to haul her out of the kitchen.

The back door let out into a walled courtyard. Evie dropped Mal in the center and ran back to lock the door. From the other side of the wall, she could hear the shouts of knights, already beginning to search the castle. One of the fleeing kitchen staff must have warned them.

Evie returned to Mal’s side. “You see the pond over there? The one with all the koi fish?”

Mal lifted her head and fixed her gaze on Grimhilde’s garden.

“At the bottom,” Evie said, “There’s an entrance to the sewer system. Follow the water. It’ll open up outside the city.”

Mal grabbed Evie’s arm and got her feet back under her. She brushed her fingers along Evie’s cheek.

“Maybe in another life,” she said, and Evie nodded. Mal leaned in to kiss her, and Evie kissed her back, because what did it matter? She was probably never going to see Mal again anyway.

Mal limped toward the lake. Evie watched her disappear below the surface.

The door to the kitchens exploded outward. Evie stood in the center of the courtyard and smiled.

**Ten Years Later**

Evie stood on the balcony outside the great hall, watching people gather around her sister, offering congratulations and hoping to earn favor with the new queen.

Carlos caught her eye through the glass doors; he was dancing with his fiancé, but when he saw her, he rested his hand briefly on Jay’s shoulder before breaking away.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“Fine,” Evie replied. “Just needed a break.”

Carlos nodded. “I can stay.”

“No, go. Have fun.” Evie smiled. “I’ll come back in soon.”

Carlos squeezed her hand and retreated back into the hall.

Evie turned back to the railing, and jumped backwards so suddenly, she almost fell. Someone was perched on the railing. They slid forward into the light, and Evie gasped.

“Princess Evie.”

Evie smiled slightly. “Princess Mal.”

“Queen Mal, these days.” Mal smiled slightly. “I here a monarch with slightly less anti-fairy sentiment has taken the throne.”

“Yes,” Evie said. “Are you here to see her?”

“Later,” Mal said. “Would you like to dance?”

Evie considered the woman in front of her. Mal wore a purple dress, woven from what looked like flower petals. Her hair was tied up on top of her head, and a diadem made form leaves and twigs sat in her curls. Her green eyes shone as brightly as ever.

Evie had thought their story ended long ago, but maybe she’d been wrong.

“Alright,” she said. “One dance.”

Mal took Evie’s hand. “I missed you,” she admitted as Evie opened the doors.

Evie smiled. “I’m glad.” 


End file.
